No one in the Pirates' management would pretend to have had a wholly pleasant PirateFest, given the buzz following the news that the Penguins' co-owners recently offered to buy the franchise.

At the same time, all concerned expressed delight Sunday on the last of the three days with the good overall attendance -- 15,398, up by 271 over last year -- as well as what team president Frank Coonelly called "great enthusiasm," for their young players and long-term plan.

The final crowd was especially large for a PirateFest Sunday -- 1,200 more than last year -- even though the Penguins and Detroit Red Wings were playing a marquee matinee at Mellon Arena and on national television.

"The fans have been terrific all weekend long and, really, it's a continuation of what went on at the Winter Caravan, where we were getting big crowds," Coonelly said. "The people I've met here are excited about the 2010 season. They're looking forward to getting out and seeing these players. They believe in these guys."

At the same time, he recognized a sense of the fans' urgency after 17 losing seasons.

"There's no question, but I think most of the fans see this transition we've made through the tough times. And the fans and players believe that there aren't going to be massive changes at the trading deadline. But sure, the fans want to see us win very badly."

Coonelly also took strong exception to the Post-Gazette's accounting Sunday of the nature of crowd reaction to the management Q&A sessions Saturday. He called the fans at those sessions "some of the most positive and upbeat we've seen." The Post-Gazette characterized the Saturday session as having light booing and a smattering of applause, as well as more applause at other points.

Owner Bob Nutting and general manager Neal Huntington also were in attendance Sunday, with Coonelly and Huntington, in particular, spending hours on the floor meeting fans and discussing the team.

Within the Pirates, the subject of Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle making that offer four months ago, as well as the Penguins' continuing interest on that front, was a sore spot: One, the Pirates had no interest in that information going public, which it did in the Saturday Post-Gazette. Two, they were especially put off by the timing of the article on the second -- and biggest -- day of PirateFest, which they believe was the result of a planned leaking of the information by the Penguins.

Coonelly has described the timing as "odd," but he also has made clear repeatedly that he has no wish to engage in a public tiff with the Penguins, whom he still describes as "our neighbor."

Still, sources inside the Pirates say that, if anything, the coinciding of the Penguins' information becoming public with PirateFest would only serve to strengthen Nutting's resolve to not sell. And that is within the context, as the Pirates and Nutting have stated many times and again Sunday, that the team never was for sale.

Since the article's publication, that not-for-sale message is known to have been strongly reinforced internally by Nutting.

The Penguins have not commented on any aspect of the situation.

There was, however, a mention of the situation on the NBC broadcast of their game Sunday: Play-by-play man Mike Emrick, a passionate Pirates fan, relayed the basics of the Penguins' offer during the third period, and added: "The Pirates say they're not for sale. The fans in Pittsburgh are hoping that's not true."

When color commentator Ed Olczyk, the Penguins' former coach, teased Emrick that he was trying to stir up the public, Emrick said, "I'm a Pirates fan for 51 years. You can't fire an owner. They've got to sell 'em first. ... But we can always dream."

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